Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, it is the summer of 1937. Due to huge political investment, China's economy has been able to continue to develop rapidly. By the end of 1935, the Republic's gross national product had reached a record of more than 150 billion yuan (76 billion U.S. dollars).
), China's economic aggregate has quadrupled in 12 years, with the total industrial production value reaching 93.7 billion yuan, accounting for 67% of the gross national product, steel output of 28.7 million tons, coal output of more than 240 million tons, and crude oil output of 7.3 million tons.
The output of important industrial products such as tons, machinery and equipment, chemical raw materials, automobiles, tractors, etc. has reached a record high. The emerging Republic of China has become the second largest economy in the world after the United States. The shipbuilding industry has surpassed the United States to become the world's largest economy.
Shipbuilding country.
As the country's strength increases, so does the self-confidence of the entire nation.
Now the Chinese can finally feel proud and proud when meeting the great powers, and no longer have to worry about being "influenced by foreign influences".
However, the arrogance and prejudice of the Western powers is difficult to eliminate at once.
Because of pride and prejudice, a small dispute finally triggered the Second World War.
On the riverside in the province outside Guangzhou, there is a piece of land that belongs to the "concession" of Britain and France. This concession is the "Shamian Concession." The British Empire has a permanent garrison of a battalion in the concession, and it is not far from Shamian.
The water surface of Baietan Lake in the distance is often filled with warships from all over the world, becoming a stage for the great powers to show off their "muscles".
On May 27, 1937, Huang Asheng, a rickshaw puller in the Shamian Concession, rode the now popular "three-wheeled rickshaw" to pull two British sailors to the Gongqiao Pier.
When people arrived, Huang Asheng stretched out his hand: "Two cents!"
The two British soldiers just pretended not to hear anything and walked away.
Huang Asheng refused and stopped in front of two British sailors, holding out two fingers: "Spit, spit!"
The British ignored him and pushed Huang Asheng away, swinging his arms and walking towards the dock. There was an old British cruiser built before World War I named "Caradoc" parked there.
Huang Asheng was a little anxious, and stretched out his hand to stop the tall and thin British sailor: "You can't leave without paying!"
The two British sailors are probably "gangsters" in the UK. I heard sailors from the Far East say that if you don't take their money from these "yellow monkeys", it's already a big deal, so there's no point in spending money outside. The two British rogue sailors will
Huang Asheng was pushed to the ground, punched and kicked.
The Chinese who were watching stopped and the three-wheeled coolies also had their own "organization". Members of the "organization" arrived and beat up the two British gangsters again.
The police from the concession arrived, but the aggrieved Chinese still surrounded the patrolmen and demanded "justice." When had the British ever spoken to the Chinese about "justice"? When the British patrol officer saw that he was surrounded by the crowd, he immediately ordered his subordinates to
"Red-headed Asan", "Shoot and disperse them!"
Those "Asans" raised their guns and fired at the crowd, killing one person on the spot and wounding three others.
News of the tragedy aroused public outrage. On May 30, the military and civilians in Guangzhou held a massive demonstration, demanding that the concession authorities severely punish the murderers, compensate for losses, and demand that the Shamian Concession be taken back.
On May 30, 1937, at 11:30 in the morning, the popular parade walked near Shaji, the entrance to the Shamian Concession. The British warship parked nearby suddenly fired artillery shells at the demonstrators. The shells exploded in the crowd, and Shaji Street
His face was covered with death and injuries, blood flowed into rivers, and it was a mess.
16 people were killed on the spot and 112 others were injured during the demonstration.
The tragedy occurred and the whole country was shocked. The British ignited the anger in the hearts of the Chinese people.
On June 2, in Shanghai, the concession authorities ordered the garrison to shoot at the marching Chinese, causing another "tragedy".
It is said that Lin Shuo, the President of the Republic of Beijing, got angry when he heard about this incident and broke his right hand.
The Republican Army entered the Shanghai Concession that night, disarmed all the British troops and concession police stationed in Shanghai, and seized all the British warships docked in the Huangpu River.
On the Baietan River, the British warships were setting fire, but in the distance they saw several lines of thick smoke coming out of the distant ocean, and a huge fleet was passing the Humen Fort at high speed.
"It's the Chinese!" White, the captain of the Caradoc, shouted as he looked at the fleet approaching at high speed in front of him.
Sullivan, the chief of staff of a small squadron of the Far East ship, ordered people to wake up the fleet commander in the cabin and ordered each ship to prepare for battle.
The Chinese fleet slowed down the ship more than 3,000 meters away from the British. The leader was a "heavy cruiser" with a displacement of more than 20,000 tons, followed by two cruisers and three destroyers.
"All British ships on the surface have been detained. Put down their weapons. We are about to board the ships!" Sullivan read the Morse code signal sent by the other party's flashing signal light while looking at the British captain White beside him.
There are only this old cruiser built during World War I and two W-class destroyers here. The 4,900-ton displacement "Caradoc" may be able to compete with those Chinese destroyers in a duel.
The black muzzles of the ten 10-inch main guns were pointed at the Caradoc, while the two W-class destroyers were used as targets by the two Chinese cruisers.
The warships anchored in Baietan flew the "None of My Business" flag and evacuated the dangerous waters one after another. When the Portuguese withdrew, they even shamelessly raised the white flag on the warships.
Fleet Commander Dimitri boarded the bridge angrily, "What, those yellow monkeys dare to order us to surrender?! No, the glorious Royal Navy will never be a coward. Now I order all ships to attack those hateful yellow monkeys.
!”
Sullivan glanced at Captain White. It was impossible for his broken warship to cause any substantial damage to the Chinese, and the 10-inch shell fired from the opposite side might be able to tear the "Caradoc" into pieces with just one shot.
Two halves, "Lieutenant Colonel, I think there is something wrong with Colonel Dimitri's sanity and he is no longer suitable to be the commander of this fleet. He should be locked up now!"
Lieutenant Colonel White nodded, "Your opinion is absolutely correct!"
After that, four sailors were called in and ordered: "Mr. Dimitri is not feeling well. Please take him to the sailor's room on the lower floor and lock him up!" Then he ignored Dimitri's words and said, "I'm going to send you up."
"Martial Court" roared and ordered all ships to raise the white flag.
At the same time, the main fleet of the Nanyang Fleet and the 4th Cruiser Squadron blocked Victoria Bay and disarmed a British cruiser squadron in Hong Kong.
London, Imperial Houses of Parliament.
"...Yesterday, June 3, 1937, was a day that brought shame to the British Empire. In the Far East, that country that we had defeated time and time again shamelessly attacked our navy and sent out troops to occupy the Empire's territory.
In the concessions in the Far East, they are challenging the dignity of the British Empire and our sovereignty!" Churchill, as Lord of the Admiralty, waved his fists emotionally and tried to incite the emotions of the MPs, "I
We must not be easily offended like this. For our benefit and to ensure our dominant position in the Far East, the Imperial Navy should respond quickly. The Royal Navy should concentrate on the Far East to teach this restless country a lesson, just like we once did.
We did the same thing in 1840, 1860 and 1900, to capture their capital and let them remember with the blood that the dignity of the British Empire can never be offended!"
Downing Street, Prime Minister's residence, Finance Minister Chamberlain watched with some concern as Prime Minister Baldwin signed the ultimatum to the Republic of China submitted by Foreign Secretary Eden: "Your Excellency, the finances of the Empire..."
Baldwin raised his hand and interrupted his speech. He knew what Chamberlain wanted to say. The Chinese's national power now far exceeds that of the empire. If it fights the Chinese alone, it is basically impossible for the empire to win. "Parliament has already
The resolution to declare war has been passed. Now we are not discussing war.
The question is not to fight, but to think about how to win. The French and the Chinese have only recently had armed conflicts on the Indochina border, and the Japanese have always been our allies. For the permanent interests of the empire, we should even